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== Alphabet ==

== Alphabet ==

Although it should be noted that the Welsh Alphabet uses the same characters as English (indeed both are examples of the Latin Alphabet) direct comparisons cannot always be made between the two.  Welsh developed as an oral language with no corresponding written language and so, when it did develop a written language, it was developed in the written alphabet of the time, the Latin Alphabet.  Of principle differences it should be noted that unlike English, Welsh has seven vowels, comprising of A, E, I, O, U, W and Y.  In addition, certain sounds in Welsh are represented in the Latin Alphabet by two characters but are considered to be only one letter.  In truth this makes little practical difference in everday use but is of use in such things as crosswords (where, for instance, the letter ''ff'' would occupy one space).  In addition the Welsh alphabet has sounds (phones {speech sounds}) that do not occur in either English or American English.  Listed below is the Welsh alphabet, along with the name of the letter as prounced in Welsh (which varies compared to how it is pronounced in English) and a (rough) guide to pronounciation.

Although it should be noted that the Welsh Alphabet uses the same characters as English (indeed both are examples of the Latin Alphabet) direct comparisons cannot always be made between the two.  Welsh developed as an oral language with no corresponding written language and so, when it did develop a written language, it was developed in the written alphabet of the time, the Latin Alphabet.  Of principle differences it should be noted that unlike English, Welsh has seven vowels, comprising of A, E, I, O, U, W and Y (occasionally h) .  In addition, certain sounds in Welsh are represented in the Latin Alphabet by two characters but are considered to be only one letter.  In truth this makes little practical difference in everday use but is of use in such things as crosswords (where, for instance, the letter ''ff'' would occupy one space).  In addition the Welsh alphabet has sounds (phones {speech sounds}) that do not occur in either English or American English.  Listed below is the Welsh alphabet, along with the name of the letter as prounced in Welsh (which varies compared to how it is pronounced in English) and a (rough) guide to pronounciation.

A, a  : {Name = â)    '''Short''' = a, as in Mam (Welsh version of Mum or Mom) or Slam.  '''Long'''  = ah, as in Lard, Bard, Card, etc. 

A, a  : {Name = â)    '''Short''' = a, as in Mam (Welsh version of Mum or Mom) or Slam.  '''Long'''  = a as in Mad, aaa! (an exclaimation), but never ah as in Lard or bard

B, b  : (Name = bî)    b, as in Boy, Butter, etc.

B, b  : (Name = bî)    b, as in Boy, Butter, etc.

D, d  : (Name = dî)    d, as in Dog, Drag, Dip, etc.

D, d  : (Name = dî)    d, as in Dog, Drag, Dip, etc.

DD, dd : (Name = èdd)  a soft 'th' sound, as in The or Them as opposed to the harder 'th' sound of Thought or Thus.

DD, dd : (Name = èdd)  a soft 'th' sound, as in The or Them

E, e  : (Name = ê)    '''Short''' = eh, as in Hen, Pen, etc.  '''Long'''  = air, as in the 'ea' sound in Pear.

E, e  : (Name = ê)    '''Short''' = eh, as in Hen, Pen, etc.  '''Long'''  = air, as in the 'ea' sound in Pear.

H, h  : (Name = âets,hâ) h, as in Hat, Hope, Hero.

H, h  : (Name = âets,hâ) h, as in Hat, Hope, Hero.

I, i  : (Name = î (North Wales), î dot (South Wales)) '''Short''' = i, as in Pit, Fit, Sit.  '''Long'''  = ee, as in Seen, Dean, Mean.

I, i  : (Name = î (North Wales), î dot (South Wales)) '''Short''' = i, as in me, he, she.  '''Long'''  = ee, as in Seen, Dean, Mean.

Strictly speaking there is no 'J' in the Welsh Alphabet, where a 'J' would appear in English the Latin form of replacing it with an 'I' occurs, so James becomes Iago in Welsh (as it does in Spanish) and Santiago or (Sant Iago) means Saint James in both Spanish and English.

Strictly speaking there is no 'J' in the Welsh Alphabet, where a 'J' would appear in English the Latin form of replacing it with an 'I' occurs, so James becomes Iago in Welsh (as it does in Spanish) and Santiago or (Sant Iago) means Saint James in both Spanish and English.

N, n  : (Name = en)    n, as in Name, Number, Never.

N, n  : (Name = en)    n, as in Name, Number, Never.

O, o  : (Name = ô)    '''Short''' = o, as in Hockey, Gone, Bomb.  '''Long'''  = oo, as Too, Flu, etc.

O, o  : (Name = ô)    '''Short''' = o, as in Hockey, Gone, Bomb.  '''Long'''  = oa as in oar, boar

P, p  : (Name = pî)    p, as in Pet, Pogo, Ping.

P, p  : (Name = pî)    p, as in Pet, Pogo, Ping.

R, r  : (Name = èr)    r, as in Rat, Ran, Rubbish.  However, the pronounciation of the letter 'r' in Welsh is slightly more trilled and rolled in pronounciation than it is in English.

R, r  : (Name = èr)    r, as in Rat, Ran, Rubbish.  However, the pronounciation of the letter 'r' in Welsh is slightly more trilled and rolled in pronounciation than it is in English.

Rh, rh : (Name = rhî, rhô)  Again, no corresponding sound in English.  'Rh' is pronounced as an aspirated 'r'.  The best way to view the letter 'rh' is to view the letters 'r' and 'rh' in Welsh as having the same phonic habits of 'w' and 'wh' in English (as in Went compared to When).

Rh, rh : (Name = rhî, rhô)  Again, no corresponding sound in English.  'Rh' is pronounced as 'hr'.

S, s  : (Name = ès)    s, as in Sat, Sorry, Song and, if you insist (even if you don't), Sox.

S, s  : (Name = ès)    s, as in Sat, Sorry, Song and, if you insist (even if you don't), Sox.

Th, th : (Name = èth)  a hard th sound, as in Thought, Thespian, Theocracy.

Th, th : (Name = èth)  a hard th sound, as in Thought, Thespian, Theocracy.

U, u  : (Name = û (North Wales), û bedol (South Wales)) '''Short''' = i, as in Sit, Bit, Kitten.  '''Long'''  = ee, as in Been, Seen, Dean.

U, u  : (Name = û (North Wales), û bedol (South Wales)) '''Short''' = i, as in me, he, she.  '''Long'''  = ee, as in Seen, Dean, Mean. (exactly the same as i)

W, w  : (Name = ŵ)     w, as in Wind, West, Wink.  '''Short''' = a cross between ur and er, almost identical to the 'u' sound in Butch Cassidy. Used in words such as cwm (a valley) and cwtch (pronounced exactly as you would say Butch, but with a hard 'c' at the beginning as opposed to a 'b' {please note that the 'ch' at the end has a 't' at the beginning, this changes the sound of the 'ch' from the gutteral sound when pronounced in Welsh to the 'tch' sound in Match. There is no direct English translation for cwtch, but the term 'safe place' is the closest description, in use it tends to be used as the description for an affectionate hug or cuddle, i.e. literally giving someone a safe place emotionally and physically, but it can also be used to describe a place where things are stowed away safely, such as a cupboard under the stairs or under the sink.  Personally it's my favourite word in Welsh).  '''Long''' = oo, as in Fool, Pool, Kool-Aid.

W, w  : (Name = ŵ)   '''Short''' = never 'w' as in english. Thus, gweld (to see) is goo-eld (although it does sound similar to gw-eld). A short oo as in spook, fluke. '''Long''' = long oo as in goo, moo.

Y, y  : (Name = ŷ)    '''Short (1)''' = i, as in Sit, Bit, Flit.  '''Short (2''') = uh, as in Gun, Fun, but pronounced slighltly heavier than the u in these words normally are.  '''Long''' = ee, Seen, Been, Lean.

Y, y  : (Name = ŷ)    '''Short (1)''' = i, as in Sit, Bit, Flit. This occurs in one syllable words like mynd (to go), llyn (lake) '''Short (2''') = uh, as in Gun, Fun. This occurs in multi syllable words like cymru (wales), or non stressed one syllable words like fy (my), yn (in).  '''Long''' = ee, Seen, Been, Lean.

As can be seen, there appears to be three letters in Welsh that all have the same sound (ee when pronounced). There are slight differences in the ways that these three letters are pronounced in such regards, but the English language doesn't have words in it that can serve as examples of the slight differences.

As can be seen, there appears to be three letters (i, u, y) in Welsh that all have the same sound (ee when pronounced). In North Wales, u and û are often pronounced as what s known as a 'close central unrounded vowel', which doesn not occur in English.

 

It should be noted that in addition to single letters (as listed above) the Welsh language also combines letters to form other sounds (as English does).  Some examples include Si (the 'sh' sound, as in Siân (SH-ahn)), Oe (oy, as in boy), Wy (oo-y, no comparable sound in English), Tch (which can produce the 'tch' sound in match as opposed to the sound of t followed by the gutteral 'ch' in Welsh), di{vowel} (which produces a j sound, i.e. diyg is the Welsh phonetic for jug).

 

A common occurance in the language is the direct use of English words (commonly known as "Wenglish"), or a phonetic welsh version of it (known as cymreigeiddio - welshification). This generally occurs for technical words, like 'niwclear' (nuclear) and 'biwrèt' (burette).

 

Some fun words in Welsh and a (even rougher) guide to their pronounciation:

Some fun words in Welsh and a (even rougher) guide to their pronounciation:

Ynysybwl = A place name, that in English contains no vowels, but in Welsh is pronounced Uh-Nis-Uh-Bull

Ynysybwl = A place name, that in English contains no vowels, but in Welsh is pronounced Uh-Nis-Uh-Bull

Eglwys  = A church.  Pronounced Egg-l-oy-s.  The official church of Wales (by virtue of the fact that Wales is a Principality of England and the Established Church of England is the Anglican Church of England) is Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru, or The Church in Wales.

Eglwys  = A church.  Pronounced Egg-l-ooy-s.  The official church of Wales (by virtue of the fact that Wales is a Principality of England and the Established Church of England is the Anglican Church of England) is Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru, or The Church in Wales.

Cymru    = Wales.  Pronounced K-um-ri, although when Cymru is used in a sentence the beginning of the word is altered to fit the syntax of the sentence (i.e.  The Church in Wales is Yr(The) Eglwys(Church) yng(in) Nghymru(Wales) as opposed to Yr Eglwys yng Cymru).

Cymru    = Wales.  Pronounced K-um-ri, although when Cymru is used in a sentence the beginning of the word is altered to fit the syntax of the sentence (i.e.  The Church in Wales is Yr(The) Eglwys(Church) yng(in) Nghymru(Wales) as opposed to Yr Eglwys yng Cymru).

Siarad  = To speak or talk.  Pronounced Sh-ah-rad.

Siarad  = To speak or talk.  Pronounced Sh-ah-rad.

Dim siarad = No Talking.  Pronounced Dim Sh-ah-rad.

Dim siarad = No Talking.  Pronounced Dim Sh-ah-rad.

Cwtch =  Closest meaning is 'safe place', often used to indicate an affectionate hug or cuddle (a safe place emotionally and physically) or a place of storage.  Pronounced as Butch but with a hard 'C' at the beginning instead of a 'B'.

Cwtch =  Closest meaning is 'safe place', often used to indicate an affectionate hug or cuddle (a safe place emotionally and physically) or a place of storage.  Pronounced as Butch but with a hard 'C' at the beginning instead of a 'B'.

Hiraedd = No comparable English word.  It's a deep seated longing, almost a depressing and obsessive (but not actually either of those things) need for something, often a return to Wales.  It can also be used to indicate a deep longing for something unobtainable.  Pronounced Hi(as in sit)-r-eye-th(soft 'th' as in the).

Hiraeth = No comparable English word.  It's a deep seated longing, almost a depressing and obsessive (but not actually either of those things) need for something, often a return to Wales.  It can also be used to indicate a deep longing for something unobtainable.  Pronounced Hi-r-eye-th (as in thought).